Over Rs 13 crore lost due to thefts in 2013

The year 2013 witnessed theft of valuables worth Rs 13,219 crore, second highest of the decade, as per the data by the National Crime Records Bureau.

The amount recorded is the second highest in the last decade. However, the recovery percentage rate by the police was second lowest.

The police was able to recover stolen articles worth only 1,762 crore from all over the country during the period.

A senior police officer said that the value has gone high mainly because of the increase in prices of various products over the years.

"Value of articles have gone up drastically over the decade. The highest number of share in the stolen articles is of vehicles. In Delhi where the number of vehicles equals to that of total number of vehicles in Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai, 30% of stolen articles are vehicles," the officer said.

He further said that a decade ago value of vehicle were comparatively very low than what they are priced at today, which has again contributed majorly in the recorded number.

Cash, jewellery, and vehicles remain on the top in the list of stolen articles, police said.

Year 2012 was the worst performer with thefts worth 21,07,194 lakhs and recoveries made were only worth 1,41,793 lakh rupees, during the last decade.

The percentage change recorded over the decade in the value of property stolen rose to 661.9% with the percentage recovery rate being -48.3%.

The data shows that year 2010 recorded the highest number of recoveries of the stolen property with the percentage recovery rate being 28.9%, highest of the decade.

State wise, Maharashtra stood at the top with thefts recorded worth Rs 4,315 crore, followed by 3,048 crores in Goa.

The data also revealed that in recovering stolen goods in 2013, Tamil Nadu stood ahead of all with the highest rate of recovery at 73.6%, followed by Sikkim with 51.9%, Andhra Pradesh 51.7%, and Rajasthan 50.7%.

However, the worst states in recovering stolen goods last year are Goa with 0.1% of recovery percentage rate, Kerala with 2%, and Manipur with 3.3%.